Never Heard Her Giggle
by cherrycola-lola
Summary: Edmund made his way over, not to rescue her or to step in to mark his territory of course, simply just to observe the hilarious interaction between his sometimes-idiot brother and the always-intelligent Hermione Granger. EP/HG. Pevensies at Hogwarts.


Not in the least bit related to my other hermione/edmund oneshot. although all their ages remain the same. (Edmund and Peter are both in Gryffindor. Peter is a 7th year, and Edmund (and Hermione & co) are in 6th.

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**Never Heard Her Giggle**

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"You know, that Weasley girl is really rather darn attractive." Peter had sat down next to him more than half an hour ago and this was the first thing he had said.

Edmund stared at him, "What?"

"The Weasley girl. She's darn attractive." Peter repeated slowly, looking at Edmund as though he were stupid.

_Oh for god's sake. _"Pete, her name is Ginny. And stop talking like that, you don't sound regal, you sound like a pompous git." Edmund said wearily, turning back to his Potions essay.

Lucy giggled beside Edmund, and Peter scowled. Before he could snap back- as he obviously would- she added, "Ginny is very pretty though," and Peter looked satisfied.

"I think I might ask her out."

Edmund hummed noncommittally and Lucy just nodded, aware that this wasn't a conversation she was really involved in.

"Or maybe Granger. What do you think Ed?"

Edmund looked up at this, and Peter was staring at him impatiently. "What do you mean what do I think? You want to ask Hermione out?"

Peter shrugged, "Her or Ginny. Whichever. I mean, Ginny is prettier, but Hermione is pretty brilliant. And besides, since she sorted her hair out she's not exactly a troll is she?"

Edmund gritted his teeth but said nothing.

"Although, I heard Granger is in love with Harry Potter."

Edmund heaved a sigh, "It's the other way around. I mean, Ginny is supposedly after Harry, not Hermione."

Peter merely nodded, "So you think I should ask Hermione?"

"No." Edmund said sharply. Peter raised his eyebrows, and he added, "I don't think you should ask either of them. You barely know them."

"That's the whole point of a date Ed, you ask out someone you find attractive to _get_ to know them." Peter pointed out, leaning back in his chair and glancing idly around.

Edmund watched curiously as a bunch of girls nearby, Hufflepuffs by the looks of their robes, sighed dreamily as Peter stretched and yawned. Edmund loved his brother- not entirely just because he had to- but sometimes he wondered what the hell people, or more specifically _girls_, saw in him. Peter was, Edmund knew, brave, kind, noble and all those things that made someone a Gryffindor. But Peter was also arrogant, somewhat lazy and occasionally downright _stupid_.

He wondered briefly what Hermione thought of the apparently oh-so-dashing Peter Pevensie, before he wiped that completely from his mind and carried on with his essay. He only noticed that Pete had left to flirt with the Hufflepuff girls when Lucy nudged his arm with a giggle, and said "Look, he's at it again."

*

Potions wasn't exactly Edmund's favourite class- it was bit too pernickety for him sometimes- but today was moving it rather rapidly up the list.

"So are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Hermione asked him, her cheeks a little pink, though he could not tell if that was from the heat or from embarrassment.

Edmund shrugged, "Probably, I'm sure that Pete will have arranged some date that will go horrendously wrong. Apparently I'm good at damage control." He smiled wryly and Hermione giggled.

Edmund realised he hadn't heard Hermione giggle before. He had heard her laugh many times of course, normally just before or after scolding Harry or Ron for something silly, but never giggle. It gave him a sudden, strange urge to kiss her.

Instead, he merely asked, "Are you?"

Hermione nodded, peering into the cauldron and scribbling something down on her parchment, she straightened up again after that and said, "Yes, Harry and Ron want to get Quidditch supplies and I said I'd go too."

He nodded and carried on cutting up the beetle eyes. There was a long silence between them as they worked, but it was awkward only when they caught one another's eyes. Hermione, Edmund noticed, had dark irises, flecked with amber. They were surprisingly warm, considering the fact she was renowned for her cool intellect and occasionally icy wit.

For her part, Hermione was trying desperately _not_ to notice Edmund's eye colour- not that she didn't already know that they were so dark, they looked like an onyx velvet- because every time she _did_ she found herself drifting off into what Harry affectionately termed her 'dither state'. And that wouldn't do at all. Edmund was impossibly cool, calm and intelligent. And she'd kiss Malfoy's feet before she started babbling to Edmund about the entrancing colour of his eyes.

It didn't help, though, for either of them, that the potions room was getting steadily hotter, and that the more ingredients they used for the ever-complicated 'Draught of the Living Dead', the less room they had at their table.

By the end of the class they had both removed their robes, their jumpers and had rolled up their sleeves as far as they could go. Edmund- not the tidiest of people by any standards- had his shirt hanging out and practically half-buttoned. Hermione had let her strict uniform rules slide for now and had loosened her own tie. They took turns stirring the concoction, both scribbling down details of the slow progress as they occurred, and at more than one point their forearms had brushed against each others magnetically.

To ease her own tension, Hermione eventually broke the silence. "So who is your brother taking to Hogsmeade then?"

Edmund glanced at her, "Err, I'm not sure. I don't think he's asked anyone yet." He didn't ask why the sudden interest, and he was both glad and disappointed when she didn't comment further.

Class was over a few minutes later, and Hermione was ecstatic- coolly so though of course- to find that hers and Edmund's collaboration was the most successful. She beamed at him uncontrollably as they packed up.

Harry and Ron were waiting for her outside of class and they both greeted Edmund cheerfully, "Look at that, what a surprise. The two smartest in the class get the best mark." Harry's comment was jokingly said and delivered with a grin.

Hermione whacked his arm lightly and all three boys chuckled.

"Obviously they're made for each other." Ron quipped, a second later. It was a half-hearted comment, and obviously meant with no intention to embarrass, but nevertheless Hermione couldn't prevent the blush from creeping up on her cheeks. "Ooh, she's all embarrassed." He teased, shooting a grin at Edmund, who smiled back, his eyes still half on Hermione.

"Oh for heavens sake." She snapped, before turning away and storming off.

Edmund said nothing, his smile growing, before Harry and Ron went their own way, and the Pevensie boy couldn't help but chuckle when he heard Ron say, "Hermione's mental."

*

Later that day, Edmund returned to the library, expecting to find Hermione there, but _not_ expecting his older brother to be there, flirting with her outrageously.

There was that brief moment of panic that easily gave way to amusement when he caught sight of the look on Hermione's face. Peter was waving his arms about and Edmund rolled his eyes, _Why Quidditch Pete? Of all things to pick a conversation about._

He made his way over, not to rescue her or to step in to mark his territory of course, simply just to observe the hilarious interaction between his sometimes-idiot brother and the always-intelligent Hermione Granger.

He sat down opposite her wordlessly, and she looked at him straight in the eyes. Her cheeks pinked again, and Edmund rather liked that _he_ (and not the heat in the potions room) had that effect on her.

Hermione, completely ignoring Peter, couldn't actually stop staring even if she had wanted to. Edmund was still in his messy state from Potions, with no robes or jumper and his shirt messily un-tucked. It might have been that that did it, or maybe it was the way he slouched so casually in his chair, or the way he tilted his head and his dark hair was all mussed. In all likelihood, it was probably a combination of these things, but all in all, he looked downright _gorgeous_. And not in his usual intelligent way, and not in the obvious way of his brother, but in a lazy, almost dangerous way. Hermione knew then that she had been sorted into Gryffindor not just because she was brave in the face of adventure.

She didn't tear her eyes from him until Pete had finished his story, and Edmund found himself feeling a bit bereft when her eyes went to his brother instead.

"So, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Peter asked, hardly taking a breath between the end of his story and the beginning of his request. He smiled charmingly.

Edmund held his breath, and briefly wondered where _that_ had come from.

Hermione blinked, tilted her head and then turned to look at Edmund again. The blush was still prominent but the look on her face was almost feral now. Her hair seemed to fluff up around her, her lips seemed fuller, more enticing. And she was outright giving him bedroom eyes.

"Actually, I was kind of hoping you might ask me."

Peter, a bit oblivious, obviously thought she was still talking to him.

And if he hadn't been so surprised by how much a purr Hermione's voice just was, Edmund might have laughed at the next words out of his brother's mouth.

"Err. I just did."

"She means me Pete." Edmund said, sparing his brother a quick glance before meeting Hermione's intense gaze again.

"Oh, right." Peter backed away then, suddenly realising that he was missing something. Edmund silently thanked him for finally picking up some observational skills from somewhere.

There was another silence- still not quite awkward- when Hermione stood up, piled her books into her bag and said, "10 o'clock outside the hall?"

Edmund smiled, his lips quirking up into a smirk before he could stop them. "See you then."

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**just another random edmund/hermione oneshot. please review! thanks.**


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